sacrificial salvatore

caroline had always tried so hard. whether it was trying hard to keep her mind off of things going wrong in her life, trying hard to get the attention of somebody she liked, or simply trying hard to be enough for someone, to feel enough. In the years since stefan’s death, caroline had tried to move on, but the indisputable fact was that she had been married, and on that very same day she had become a widow.

it wasn’t impossible to get her mind off of it, but a small part of caroline didn’t want to. she had set her eyes on stefan salvatore the very first time she saw him, and they had been friends for a long time before either of them gave in to the feelings that had grown within that time. yet the day she had gotten everything she’d wanted, she’d lost it all.

the dead were returning to mystic falls now, and caroline knew it, so it was only a matter of time before she’d see him again. she wasn’t sure she was entirely ready, but it seemed there was no time like the present as she turned to face him.

“ stefan ? ” though it wasn’t a question, because she’d know him anywhere. before she could say anything else, she found her arms around him in a hug she didn’t want to break free from. “ i can’t believe you’re here ! ”

The second she turned around, Stefan felt her arms around him, smothering him with the familiar sense of Caroline affection. The fact that she had not hit him or immediately burst into tears calmed his nerves of seeing her again; he clearly hadn’t given Caroline enough credit, she was stronger than he ever could have imagined. 

“Me neither.” He whispered in her ear as a smile crept onto his face. There was something so warming about her touch, despite how long it had been since they had last spoken ( let alone been together in person ) she still managed to make him feel at home, comforted.

"I love you.” The words had slipped from his mouth before he had managed to give them any thought. They were words he had wanted to say to her all of those years ago, words he wanted Caroline to carry with her, no matter what happened. Now, he just hoped they were welcomed, however, he would understand if her feelings towards him had changed.

“Stefan,” she retorted, a smile clear on her lips as she laughed softly. “Oh, hardly. The men adore the accent.” The blonde couldn’t stop the roll of blue eyes as she glanced down at the body. “Bloody dude couldn’t keep his hands to himself,” she spoke. “Men these days need to learn that no means no not take what you want.”

“I’m sure you’re the perfect person to teach manners,” Stefan couldn’t hide a small smile. “Seeing as how you’re the definition of well-behaved. Why are you even here? Surely you didn’t return for the nostalgia...” 

Everything that happened would haunt Bonnie for the rest of her life, even though Enzo was back, she was constantly exhausted with worry about it happening again. “I do, because it wasn’t you and I should have done more to help you” She had been too focused on helping others, yet she didn’t see when her friend, Stefan, needed help. A light chuckle escaped her lips, “Oh there’s still time to kill you. I’m a Bennett, I’ll always hold a little grudge”

“You shouldn’t put any of my actions on your shoulders. You had found happiness, and you were rightfully focused on that, ” Stefan countered; there was no way he would let Bonnie bear any burden for what he had done. “You’ve always put people before yourself, and you deserve to be happy, more so than most of us. So, don’t ever think for one moment that you need to go out of your way to sacrifice your happiness in order to help me.” He appreciated that she had forgiven him, that she was even able to make light of the situation, but he needed her to know just how serious he was. Never again would Stefan Salvatore hurt Bonnie Bennett.  

(¸.• ♛ → “Are you serious?” A sigh escaped from her lips. “Only creeps thinks that being here is fun. I’m here just because I want to be alone, back in the school I wasn’t able to.”

“Are you calling me a creep?” Stefan teased, although he was unsure if she had actually been serious or not; the youth were so hard to read these days. “Is there any point in me asking why you wanted to be alone?”

“stefan. it’s that really you?” he questioned feeling as if the figure was just a figment of his imagination ( one he has had over a thousand times before ). damon had heard rumors that the dead was returning. a rumor he had hoped to be true, because he wanted to see stefan again. nevertheless, determining whether or not his eyes were playing tricks on him had yet to been seen.

“Hello brother,” Stefan looked at the man standing before him, a huge smile splitting across his face. He knew the meeting was inevitable, but now it was happening, it was quite hard to process all of his emotions. This was someone he didn’t think he would be seeing again for a very, very long time. There was so much that had been left unsaid, so much that he now wanted to say. “It’s been a while.”

the brunette siphoner jumped a bit when she heard the voice “no, i did not think anyone would notice” she replied, shaking her head “you did not see everything, right? i just practiced on a spell. i did not know it would almost explode”

❝ It’s pretty hard to miss, ❞ Stefan said honestly, a failed display of theatrics rarely went unnoticed.  ❝ Especially when it makes loud noises which draw the attention of everyone in the surrounding area. Maybe you should be more careful next time, you could have hurt yourself. ❞

The blonde pulled back from the male’s neck that she currently had her teeth sunk into, watching as the body collapsed to the floor in front of her. Blonde hair tossed over her shoulder as blue eyes found the source of the voice that spoke out, a typical Mikaelson smirk taking her lips. “Did you really think that I cared,” Rebekah questioned mischievously. “I was hungry and he was rude. We both got what we deserved, win-win.”

❝ Rebekah, ❞ Stefan sighed as he watched the body fall to the ground. It was clear to Stefan that Rebekah had remained pretty much the same. ❝ I hate to burst your bubble of self-righteousness, but this really doesn’t seem like a win win situation. What did he do? ❞ Stefan raised his eyebrows. ❝ Make fun of your accent? ❞

It took no time at all to recognize the face of the man before her - and it seemed like he hadn’t changed a bit, for being human. Was he human, then? Nonetheless her grin grew exponentially, a feeling of happiness and elation in her chest. Elena had felt a bond - a deep-rooted, soulmate type of bond - from the moment he’d stepped into Mystic Falls and made an appearance at her high school. Nothing but happy memories and loving words came to mind as he stood before her, and she had a strong urge to throw her arms around his neck and pull him close.

Just in case she had less control of her bloodlust than she thought and he’d remained a human over the years, Elena momentarily kept her distance. “Stefan,” she murmured the name breathlessly. “I’m not scared anymore.” It was almost impossible for her to feel fear or anxiety around the younger Salvatore. “I-I can’t believe you’re here. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

Stefan couldn’t resisted, he stepped forward and engulfed Elena in one of his hugs, wrapping his arms tightly around her. He felt so comfortable with her, almost as if nothing had happened and he hadn’t risen from the dead after ten, long years. Their time apart was no mere few hours, and Stefan didn’t quite know where to begin when it came to ‘catching up’. On his end, there wasn’t really much catching up to do. He had died and found peace. It seemed, however, that there was something different about Elena. 

 ❝  Weren’t you, you know, human when I left you? ❞ He said, half joking as he narrowed his eyes, sure he wasn’t mistaken. Then again, permanent death might have done weird things to his memories, he couldn’t be sure. 

(¸.• ♛ → “But you are alive so that’s really irrelevant.” She wasn’t really in the mood about anything. A small sigh escaped from her lips. “Me? Nothing, I’m just hanging out, that’s all.”

❝ You just hang out in graveyards? ❞ Stefan questioned before flashing back to his graveyard meeting with Elena - perhaps it wasn’t so weird after all.  ❝ Do you know of any fun graveyard activities? ❞

Although his death had brought him closure in many aspects, there was one end which remained very much incomplete for him — Caroline Forbes.  Having risen from the dead, he was determined to make it right. He wanted her to know that he still loved her, that he wished things could have been different, and that he had wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. 

He hadn’t searched for Caroline immediately, due to the fact that he needed to come to grips with his new existence before interacting with one of the most important people in his life. The last thing he wanted was for things to go badly. Now, however, he felt ready. 

Stefan had spotted her almost immediately, it was hard to mistake her for anyone else. Nobody quite held themselves in the same way as Caroline, not in Stefan’s eyes anyway. He didn’t want to scare her, although he knew just his presence alone would come as a shock. Unfortunately, he couldn’t think of a way to approach without blatantly showing himself. It was, therefore, with slight trepidation that Stefan reached out to tap the blonde on the shoulder.

❝ Hello, Caroline. ❞ 

Katherine couldn’t help the light roll of her eyes when she heard his voice. Stefan. She loved him, obviously - always had, but he had killed her in the end, so their relationship was currently a rocky one, finally in her eyes. “Oh come on.” Her voice was laced with boredom, turning to face him. “Now what gave me away?”

❝ I’ve known you long enough to spot a Katherine trail when I see it, ❞ Stefan sighed. Although he had been sure before, seeing her in the flesh now was just further confirmation that she was back. ❝ It seems like whatever brought us back can’t distinguish the sinners from the saints. ❞ The more he looked at her, the less his sacrifice all of those years ago seemed to mean.  ❝ What are you doing here, Katherine? ❞

Time after time, Bonnie had been trying to avoid the younger Salvatore, she honestly didn’t know how she’d react when she saw him again. Though the one time she didn’t pay attention, that’s when she was placed in front of him. The town square of all places, she had just returned from the book store and was about to make to the boarding house. For once she needed to calm herself, and talk to him. “Stefan, the other day at the carnival-” She paused, she had been rude, as much as she wanted to make him suffer, Enzo was back and nothing seemed to matter anymore “-I’m sorry. Too many emotions came flooding back”

Stefan had been sitting by himself, trying his best to stay out of everyone’s way, wallowing in self pity. It was only when he heard the sound of a familiar voice did he pull himself together. ❝ Bonnie. ❞ Stefan could feel a weight lift off his shoulders at her words. Selfishly, it was exactly what he wanted to hear. If Bonnie could forgive him, then maybe, just maybe, he would be able to forgive himself. ❝ It’s okay. You don’t ever have to apologise to me, okay? I’m just glad that you haven’t killed me yet. ❞ He meant the last sentence as a joke, but it came out a little more sombre than intended. 

(¸.• ♛ → “It wasn’t really a secret.” The blonde commented, looking at him. Now just putting the candles away. “What are you doing here?” She asked, well, she thought that she was alone here in the graveyard.

❝ Do you own the graveyard? ❞ Stefan raised his eyebrows.  ❝ Last time I checked, it was open access. Besides, I’m actually buried here, so I think I have more claim to it than you ❞ He teased, returning the question she had asked.  ❝ What are you doing here? ❞

Hope had gone for a run in the woods, stress usually best met with a shift in the woods and as exciting and heart lifting it was to have her parents back in her life it was also terrifying. The worry that she could end up losing them all over again, that the pain would just come rushing back. Shifting back after a hunt the let off some steam Hope threw on her over-sized shirt when she heard someone around, stepping out from behind a tree she scoffs. “Um no Detective Hair I didn’t think anyone would question, wildlife being wildlife. Its not really your business.”

❝ Detective Hair? ❞ Stefan scoffed, giving the girl a small smile.  ❝ I’m no police officer, but I do want to know if you're okay. With all of this wildlife being wildlife, you could draw some very unwanted attention. ❞ He squinted at her, there were certain features of her face which seemed tantalising familiar. ❝ Have we...met before? ❞  

The Salvatore Boarding School.

    An odd feeling of melancholy struck as Elena’s brown doe eyes skimmed the behemoth sized building which was once a mansion - a home. A deep intake of fresh, clean air filled her chest and soothed her. In the end, she supposed, a school for the magically gifted was a fitting fate for the old place, and as a myriad of memories came forth she gave a genuine smile in its direction.     Mystic Falls had surely changed. Maybe that was because of Maelivore and the growing supernatural population, but it had through her eyes. Vampirically enhanced eyes, for that matter, as the doppelgänger was once again dealing with the struggles of transition. Along with the senses she felt emotion ten times as deep as she had as a human. The difference between then and now was that she had practice controlling each downside to vampirism.     Elena had been too busy admiring the shine of the warm sun and the way it reflected off of the glass windows of the school to notice a presence approaching her from behind. As the nerve in her back stood on end the closer the stranger drew, she spun around on her heel, shoulders back and fists clenched as if she was threatened. “Oh my god,” she breathed as a hand flew to her chest and rested there. “I didn’t see you, or.. or hear you.”

A lot had changed, but one thing always remained the same for him, and that was his connection to Elena. Whether it be lover or friend, he still felt an undeniable affinity towards her. Stefan wanted to see Elena, badly. It was one of the first things he had wanted to do since coming back to life. 

He knew it was her before she even turned around, it was a frame which he could mistake for no other. Despite being a doppelganger, there was something in the way that Elena held herself which made differentiating her from the rest incredibly easy for Stefan. In his eyes, she was unique. 

“Hello, Elena.” Stefan couldn’t help the smile from breaking over his face as she turned, allowing him to really look at her for the first time in what felt like forever. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”